Posted
by
Soulskill
on Monday January 24, 2011 @10:04PM
from the runs-on-vapor dept.

siliconbits writes "A single 'universal' memory technology that combines the speed of DRAM with the non-volatility and density of flash memory was recently invented at North Carolina State University, according to researchers. The new memory technology, which uses a double floating-gate field-effect-transistor, should enable computers to power down memories not currently being accessed, drastically cutting the energy consumed by computers of all types, from mobile and desktop computers to server farms and data centers, the researchers say."

Where does it get the power for the non-volatile write? It would have to have a battery or capacitor built in, in case of sudden loss of power. It would also need low voltage detection for the same reason. How does all of this end up affecting the cost and density? We already have non-volatile SRAM [wikipedia.org] based on the same principles (warning: article sounds like it was lifted from a press release).

The reason we use DRAM as computer memory is because it's really, really cheap. If nvDRAM ends up having a significantly highly cost per byte, I doubt it'll see much use. Especially when one considers the ever-falling price point for solid-state drives.